Being able to work at a NICU

[monikee]

Hi,

So today, I have two questions:

1. I had a pretty rough first year in nursing school because I had very different expectations than how the reality actually was, and I will be on my second year this fall starting my ADN (I think that I do want to give it a second chance, now that I know how the nursing program really is). However, instead of feeling excitement, I am very scared and nervous. Is it normal to feel this way after a rough first year? And will the second year get better?

2. Even though I have all this doubts of nursing school, if I am able to go through the whole ADN program, I am very interested in working at a NICU. This has been a life-long dream before I got discouraged with my first year in nursing. My question is, will NICUs accept nurses with an ADN, or will I have to get my bachelors? I mean, in the future, I would like to get my bachelors, but as of now, I would like to start off working with my ADN. Also, is it required to work in other floors first before a NICU? If so, like which ones and for how long?

Thank you, everyone:)

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Depending on the area, NICUs can be very difficult to get a job as a new grad. I applied to 50-100 NICU openings throughout the US and had only two interviews. I had a BSN and a Senior Capstone placement in a Level IV NICU and still only got 2 interviews. Fortunately, one lead to a job offer into a Level IV NICU. While our job postings say "ASN required" and "BSN preferred", all of our nurses have BSNs. We hire almost exclusively new grads that either were PCAs in the unit or Summer Externs prior to graduation.

[member123]

Don't be discouraged and don't allow the bad experience bring you down. Nursing is a broad area with many different routes available. And if you don't have much experience in the hospital setting, then it's challenging to have certain expectations or any idea of what it will be like.. But nursing school is what it is, and now that you know what it is like, you have to decide if it is for you. If nursing in general is not meeting your expectations, then maybe you need to self-reflect if this is something you would enjoy doing as a career, because the majority of nurses and nursing students are very passionate about nursing. With that being said, if you have been to a NICU and are certain that you want to become a NICU RN, I would recommend sticking to nursing school and getting yourself to meet this goal. If you have not been to a NICU, I would recommend shadowing; reach out to a near-by hospital and seek an opportunity to shadow. As for the nerves, I think it is totally normal to be nervous. It is a challenging journey with ALOT to learn and ALOT of experience to gain. But it is so rewarding. If becoming a nurse is exciting for you, then this nerve-wrecking journey should be worth it. Give it all you got, take each experience and learn as much as you can from it, jump in and get experience as a student, to better prepare you to become a great nurse.

I recently graduated and have passed the NCLEX and have gotten my first job at a level III NICU. I have my BSN (which I attained through an accelerated program). However, I know many people that have gotten their ADN and then gotten their BSN within 4 months, through online classes. NICU's typically hire RNs with BSN degree. One option is getting a job with your ADN degree at a postpartum unit (like mother-baby unit or L&D) and getting your BSN while gaining experience, and later try to transition to NICU. Also I would research residency programs or internships and research what their requirements are.. Another great tip is doing your preceptorship experience in the NICU or anything pedes-related. This is just my input. :)

[KGay93]

Hi, you mentioned your hospital hiring PCAs. I'm a CNA have worked home health for 5 years, my goal now is to become a RN for NICU. My question is should I take a job at the children's hospital as a care partner while I work toward my degree to gain some type of experience in that setting/field?